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Faircracker FALL 2019
The Hillsborough County Fair awarded four individ-
uals, a garden ministry, and a farm family with this year’s Harvest Awards. The 19th annual event was held during a luncheon on Thursday, October 17th at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds located west of Brandon on Highway 60 and Sydney Washer Road. The program officially kicked off the Hillsborough County Fair which opened later that day at 5:00 p.m. The awards luncheon was complimentary, but ad- vanced reservations were required. The Harvest Awards were established by the Coop-
erative Extension Service to preserve the agricultural heritage of Hillsborough County and to celebrate those outstanding pioneers in the farming community. The Fair took over the awards several years ago. The Billy Simmons family was named the 19th farm
family to be honored with the distinction of Farm Family of the Year. The first farm family honored was the Roy Parke Family of Plant City. Farming for the Billy Simmons family reaches back in Hillsborough County agricultural history and to the beginning of the legacy of Plant City being the winter strawberry capitol of the world. Billy and Carol Simmons have been farming strawberries since 1977, however, the family traces its farming roots back to both Billy and Carol’s great-grandparents who grew strawberries in the 1800s. Mr. Ronald (Ron) Wetherington received this year’s
Lifetime Achievement in Agriculture for his lifetime commitment to the industry. Born in 1937 in Sydney, Florida, Ron graduated from Turkey Creek High School and began working on the family farm growing berries and vegetables. Ron went on to receive his American FFA Degree in 1958, based on his livestock projects, raising crops, and his community service. He was named the Plant City Agriculturalist of the year and also received the Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award. Dennis Carlton, Jr., a seventh-generation cattleman
and farmer was honored as this year’s Outstanding Young Farmer/Rancher/Nurseryman. Dennis is part- ner at Carlton and Carlton Ranch, a cow-calf opera- tion located in six Florida counties. In 2007 Dennis earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from the Uni-
versity of South Florida. Cattleman and rancher, agri- cultural and community leader, and youth supporter of 4-H and FFA, are just some of the reasons that Dennis was awarded this honor. Mention FFA in Hillsborough County, and the name
of Pam Walden will be heard. Pam is the retired Ca- reer Technical Education Supervisor of Agriculture, Automotive and JROTC with the Hillsborough County School System for over forty years. This year’s Wom- an in Agriculture, Mrs. Pam Walden is totally im- mersed in programs relating to Fairs and Festivals. She sits on livestock committees at the Strawberry Festival, Florida State Fair, and the Hillsborough County Fair. At the National level, Pam serves as a proficiencies and prepared public speaking. She earned her master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in Educational Leadership. This year’s Outstanding Public & Community Service
Award is jointly awarded to Master Gardener Cindy Paulhus and the Seeds of Faith Community Garden. After graduating from the IFAS Master Gardener pro- gram, Cindy went to work at the Hillsborough County Extension office helping residents with their garden- ing problems and answering their questions. She was able to give them science-based information in a timely manner. She was regularly featured on area television news shows giving advice on plants and cold protection. She is currently garden director for the Seeds of Faith Community Garden for the Bay Life Church in Brandon, Florida. The garden was started on an old orange grove site adjacent to the church by seven volunteers with one garden hose and 100 ce- ment blocks. The two major goals for the garden was to provide a space for congregants and residents of the surrounding community to grow fresh vegetables and grow and donate produce to local food banks. To date Seeds of Faith has donated over 18,000 pounds of fresh produce to ECHO and other food banks.
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